


g.h.o.s.t.

by drakanyst



Category: Gundam Wing, Sword Art Online
Genre: Adventure, Multi, Multiverse, Suspense, ai discovery, crossover AU, digital worldmapping, more TBA - Freeform, trashy space love, vr
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-14
Updated: 2017-12-28
Packaged: 2019-02-02 00:16:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,322
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12715851
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/drakanyst/pseuds/drakanyst
Summary: It started as some fun with equations, patching and brainstorming on an idea that had been scrapped by the gundam scientists before completion. Now, the project has taken on a life of its own. For a brief period, the five former Gundam pilots enjoy the fruits of what proves to be a powerful training platform. When the virtual reality interface is shared with a limited run of Preventers recruits, a domino effect begins that nobody is ready for. One braided adrenaline junky is caught in the middle of it, looking for answers to questions that come at a price. What is happening with the isolated program Yukio? And why do the riots and mass murders blossoming all over L3 mirror a VR instance? Is the platform emulating the life it is witnessing, vice versa.. or something else entirely?





	1. From L2 With Love

There was nothing inside of the office that could properly denote the time. If Quatre left his eyes closed long enough, surely days could pass and he would be none the wiser. Leaning forward to rest his elbows at the desk before him, one hand raised to pinch the bridge of his nose. On a desktop terminal screen the black and green command window glowed. It was unique, though the design didn’t give the casual onlooker any clues. There was a simple drop down menu on the left hand side, littered with acronyms. The former Gundam pilot was well almost subconsciously aware of them, like a second native tongue. However the message opened to the middle of the screen had none of these. It had been pre-decoded on Quatre’s personal device, leaving the twelve-straight-days-of-conferencing exhausted young man quite at odds with how fast his mind was running. 

 

After another moment of debate, a terse clack of the keys shut down the cloud drive and set the terminal into lockdown. He stood, reaching for the bottom drawer handle on the left side of the desk. Inside was a medium sized bag that he removed, slinging over his shoulder. A number of things happened in the peripherals of his consciousness, and before Quatre properly realized it, he was exiting the building, with a plan on his mobile device to board a private shuttle glowing benignly in his hand. 

 

The entire way to the inter-colony shuttle post, bits of his comrade’s message came back to him. 

 

.// _ heya pal-y, long time no talk! In case you were tremendously bored and wanted a nice little spice up to your day, some odd results came back in the system sweep for g.h.o.s.t.// _

 

G.h.o.s.t. stood for Gundam Heritage Omniverse Strategic Training. It was a tentative VR play verse that Quatre and Duo had begun with Heero’s oversight, aimed at self training for possible on ESUN disasters. For a few months, as they worked out the bugs of the system (based on a model from the Gundam scientists), the pilots enjoyed intermittent training in the virtual space, which was majoritively populated with NPCs. Eventually, though, Wufei mentioned it’s possible import for recent Preventers recruits, acidly noting that there was a large margin for improvement in their performance and combat sensibility. 

 

So, the platform was voted on. Duo and Trowa had been the most reluctant to accept, mentioning that every time something like this was released it inevitably ended up in the wrong hands or influence. However, with the entirety of the system being server locked personally by Heero, there was little room to argue. 

 

_ //continuing on our last check, it looks like Yukio is still operating independently. nothing shows up in bug reports, he’s simply outgrown his own mission storyline. what that means for the future operation of g.h.o.s.t., we’ll have to see. what’re your thoughts?// _

 

Blond tendrils cascaded into his vision when he shook his head vehemently, goosebumps scattering down his arms. He  _ couldn’t _ make an opinion on Yukio just yet. It would be a lie if he didn’t admit to the urge to yank the VR system from Preventer’s hands, for the time being. While he had a modicum of faith in the intentions of the Preventers, humanity’s history of acceptance rate to new definitions of life was not an unblemished record. 

 

_ //i bet you’re wondering why i’m still typing.  _

 

_ … there’s a backdoor to g.h.o.s.t.’s nerve cluster. i’m going in to explore it.// _

 

The end to the transmission was terse, and without Duo’s trademark signature. Despite whatever playful rhetoric Maxwell used, the L2 native was keenly aware of the potential disaster at the end of the road. 

 

While it could just be a bug, what program expanded on it’s own?


	2. Roundabout

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Concerned that g.h.o.s.t. may be operating outside of its set parameters, Duo decides to abandon research and take on a more hands-on approach to investigating the system. It isn't at all what he expects.

L2

The Same Day

 

The studio apartment that sat sullenly at the back of Maxwell Scrap was a complete disaster. Of course, you couldn’t tell that from the outside. Roll after roll of schematics were strewn over every possible surface, including the small bathroom and kitchen. Bright yellow post it notes littered their surfaces, the computer terminal, and walls alike. It was the programmer's equivalent of a bomb going off, the paper carnage consuming all. Somewhere in its depths sat Duo, perched on what could have been the couch. One foot was braced on the surface with his other leg dangling off the edge of the couch. His chin was propped on a palm, pen dangerously close to marking his face from the way he was simultaneously gripping it in the same hand. Duo’s back radiated the perplexity that he felt, as he studied a set of poorly recreated notes from Doctor J. 

 

“Secured sourcing notes that in the event of a full dive, multiple servers of intergalactic origin may be linked. Was J huffing paint thinner? Where did he find secured sourcing that isn’t in the data banks? Gyaaagh!” The pen-laden hand abandoned its post as chin holder and furiously swept at the shaggy mop of bangs surrounding Duo’s face. Even though it had been three years since the Gundam scientist’s passing, he could still hear a mocking  _ kuh-clank! kuh-clank!  _ of J’s homemade prosthetic in riposte. 

 

_ That’s it, I gotta take a break from post-it hell.  _

 

Duo’s braid slipped off of his left shoulder when he stood, swinging in an arc and knocking the first few sheets of a report off the side of the couch. If he noticed, he made no effort to pick up the discarded papers. With only a modicum of caution, the former pilot navigated his way through the mess over to an equally crowded corner of the apartment. A conglomerate of screens were temporarily mounted to the far wall to match the eye level of a console chair that was suspiciously close in design to a mobile suit cockpit seat. Various electronics were piled onto a shop cart, all of them interconnected by wires. Only a single half helmet stood out, situated on the edge of the console chair, the corresponding electric umbilical cord wrapping from the back of the helmet into a server tower several feet away. It looked like a black and red caterpillar, appearing heavier than the way Duo hoisted it onto his head. This creation was a collective baby of the pilots’, a direct result of two years of research and testing. And up until recently, it had been a rewarding device worth the extensive globs of time it took to develop. He sat with a resigned sigh, arching his back to stretch it briefly. Duo reached out to flick on the power switch and then leaned back into the chair, settling like he was going to take a nap. The server tower and connected electronics hummed their greeting. It was then that a tiny red light in the corner of the helmet’s vision-space blinked “ready”. 

 

“Engage g.h.o.s.t.,” Duo commanded, exhaling as a burst of light signaled the beginning of VR immersion. His body immediately lost tension and sagged against the support that the chair gave. Merely giving the appearance of slumber, Maxwell’s consciousness was as alert as ever. While he succumbed to the grips of G.h.o.s.t.s’ VR boot check, two of the screens on the opposite wall began scrolling output data. He was in.

 

. . . 

 

The digital rendition of Duo Maxwell was the spitting image of him in real life. G.h.o.s.t.’s initial calibration didn’t offer a lot of frills, and Duo preferred it that way. Here, in the virtual recreation of the L1-L2 interspace travel satellite, it was a bustling evening a month before L1’s colony turning holiday. He inhaled sharply, appreciating the sensory input that it provided. Sure, it wasn’t inhaling a grassy field on Earth in real life, but it did wonders for a frustrated mind. It was time to stretch his legs, so to speak.

 

Before he bothered to move, he swiped to the left with his right hand. This wouldn’t appear out of place to the travelers now bustling about him on their way through the satellite; a majority of the inhabitants fell into the category of NPC. G.h.o.s.t. was in essence a mission simulator at its core. While there had been quite a few options upon creation of what to include for inhabitants, the former gundam pilots hadn’t been thinking of the creation as a separate world, but for a way to train them to prepare for further incident. One thing the “war to end all wars” taught them, and Duo especially, was that you couldn’t trust the human heart to hold onto peace forever. There would always be other “fires to put out”, as Sally so passionately told him once. 

 

An explosive yawn interrupted his train of thought, and Duo turned his focus back to the display before him. Somewhere on this hunk of digi-steel was the mission program Yukio. He selected the message button from the drop down that flared at his motion command, and was treated to a full view of his inbox. Most of the messages were already marked as read, a couple from Wufei, one from Commander? Lady? Whatever, Une. The single message marked unread at the top of the menu was assuredly from Yukio. He clicked on it, the message blooming into a larger view. 

 

_.//Hello Duo! _ _  
_ _ I know you mentioned how busy you were, but I’ve found something in the shipping inspections files for my company. It looks like your sort of thing, know what I’m saying? Anyways, message me when you return, Yukio.// _

 

It wasn’t the first time he’d seen the message, preferring to leave it marked as unread until he was willing to re-address the platform. Drawing no conclusions that meant anything logical, he figured that talking to Yukio in ‘person’ would give him a little more brain fodder. 

 

That was, if Yukio was related to the irregularities he’d found. Otherwise he was stuck back at square one. 

 

_ Quatre, it’s been a day. Why haven’t you responded? _ It would be just his luck to have the whole thing be a fluke in the system. Over-reacting wouldn’t surprise the others, but he just couldn’t shake the feeling that he was wading in a much deeper pool than he’d intended to swim into.

 

Various smells wafted to him. Duo stuffed his hands into his pockets, slumping a little and assuming a nonchalant stance. This was a holiday, so most of the satellite inhabitants that weren’t on their way to one colony or another would be slowly preparing food and other niceties for the occasion. Sure enough, colorful decorations littered the corners of windows, store fronts and restaurants as he passed. The inter-colony ConnectHUB was a buzz of activity ahead of him. Duo closed the inbox menu he’d left open, noting the time was just about right for that kind of hustle. Prime commuter hour it was, so it was no shock that by the time Duo made it past the space station and into the seedy entertainment zone, it was well past 9 p.m. standard time. 

 

Even here, the atmosphere was welcoming. Lights blinked from normally dingy windows, and it did some to lift Duo’s spirits. He counted down the compact units until he found 103, where he knew that Yukio would be for the evening. A chime rang upon his entrance, and as expected, Yukio was stuffed away in a corner, scribbling out whatever shipping and receiving document he was going at. 

 

“Yoh, Yukio!” Duo hailed him with a wave. The youth that jerked in response had pale blond, nearly blue hair (he had been  _ certain _ Yukio had blue hair until looking at him under full light) and hazel eyes. His stance and build resembled an odd mix of a friend from many years ago and the physique of Trowa. Pleasant surprise blossomed on his face when he caught sight of the L2 native.

 

“Heya, you’re just in time to see what I reaped from last week’s haul,” Yukio beamed, clearly pleased with the progress he’d made. Yukio had been in position as a middleman prior, but Wufei, Heero, and Duo’s mission with him had broken him from the line of work, and he’d settled into warehousing instead. It wasn’t a for-profit industry necessarily, especially within the confines of G.h.o.s.t., but it allowed him to be creative with negotiation and continue his story line. Yukio should have reset three months ago, but here he was, ecstatic over an item haul.

 

“Come look at this,” he murmured, the slightest curve to his lips.

 

“Hmmm? Can’t imagine inventory sheets being such a blast, Yukio. Sure you’re not huffin something?”

 

“Hardly, you’ll see when you look.” Yukio pulled a stapled set of papers from beneath his keyboard, handing them to Duo with an expectant look on his face. Duo flipped through them quickly, then returned his attention to the front page. Halfway down, hidden in cleverly masked shorthand, was a list of controlled chemical delivery. Taking a moment to control his response (such things he’d discovered were a little more difficult than usual in G.h.o.s.t.), a thousand different outcomes were racing through his mind. Individually, the chemicals were just that, and posed no threat. Combined, with the added bonus of a lab and a dozen qualified chemists, it was all the makings of some fatal letter stuffers. 

 

Duo was going to have to give AI development a good solid think later, once this was all done. How had Yukio pieced this together on his own? 

 

“What happened to the shipment?” He asked, returning his focus to Yukio. 

 

“It went interspace to Earth with a raw materials shipment two days ago. I tried to look for information on the signer or the pickup point, but it looks like whoever ordered it was planning to pick it up at the cargo shipment port directly.” After a moment of observation, Duo came to the conclusion that it had to be excitement on Yukio’s face. After a life as a middleman to arms dealers, working in a shabby warehouse on the outskirts of the entertainment district had to have its limitations on fun. You had to feel for the guy, Duo reasoned.  _ He’d _ sure been rubbish at straight civilian life. 

 

“Huh. It all seems pretty neat and orderly. How’d you know?” 

 

Yukio’s laugh had the edges of a grimace. “It’s so boring here man. Sometimes I do jumping jacks to keep myself warm and pass the time, but it does nothing for the brain meat. I started cross referencing things on the web when larger shipments came in, this place isn’t exactly the most upstanding of firms. Thought I’d be able to make a little extra profit if I caught another employee breaking some regs, but they just passed this one on through. Wouldn’t be any fun unless I did  _ something _ with the intel. Figured you were my best bet.” 

 

For the first time that day, a grin flashed across Duo’s expression. “Aw hell, when’re you done with this lump?”

 

“Don’t know, can’t be more than an hour. You can keep the printout, it’s a double.” 

 

“Shoot me a message when you’re done, we can grab a beer and some grub.” Yukio nodded in response, murmuring agreement. His manager emerged through the front door, likely back from a dinner break. Duo took it as a dismissal and tossed a wave over his shoulder on the way out. 

 

There was  _ no way _ this was an automatically populated mission.  

 

_ Ti-klang!  _ The metal door behind Duo protested as it clicked into the closed position behind him. Standing in the semi-circle of stark light that the street lamp provided, he gave the inventory sheets one last quick glance before folding it and sliding the papers into the inner lining of his jacket. A furtive habit that may have no place in an instance controlled virtual atmosphere. Nonetheless, Duo felt a prickle on the back of his neck. He assumed a quick pace, unsure of where he really needed to go at this hour when he would inevitably have to return to meet Yukio. Deciding that the ConnectHUB was as good as anywhere, he mentally mapped out a roundabout method to circle back to it.  _ You’re paranoid, Maxwell. This is a fluke. Some variables out of place on a digital map. _

 

Sight set on the large roundabout two blocks down, Duo slowed his pace just enough to appear relaxed. Once he reached the roundabout, his paranoia would be confirmed and this would all be a joke to tell Quatre about via G.h.o.s.t.’s messenger system. The road he walked down was nearing the edge of the inhabitable part of the interspace satellite. Behind thirty feet of sector lock and drainage piping was the maintenance route, and beyond that- the void. Choosing to focus on that was a conflicting mix of feelings; coming with a blend of security and the harrowing respect that space deserved.

 

His steps made little sound on the colony grade pavement, crossing from the sidewalk into the middle of the roundabout. Duo was headed for the bubble mirror stationed for vehicles to check their peripherals. He saw nothing initially when he approached. When it was almost out of range for him to see through, a small flash of light glanced off of something in the road behind him. There was no need to look back, that stretch of road was devoid of anything to cause reflection. Duo was being followed. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're starting to pick up pace! Next chapter should mark some updates in character appearances and tags. Leave comments and let me know what you think.


	3. Under A Burning Sky

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Duo's curiosity gets the better of himself and he is thrown into a situation beyond his control. Where were they? Why doesn't this look like the G.H.O.S.T. they'd created? What's more, can he even go home?

A.C. 207- December 13th- G.H.O.S.T.

 

If there were two things Duo Maxwell knew in life, it was that the original Heero Yuy had been polyamorous (in a rather scandalous way if he did admit so himself), and tails didn’t go after you unless they had a deficiency of information. The only question here was, what exactly were his pursuers trying to attain from him? Any number of combinations were possible within the sphere of G.H.O.S.T.’s mission databank. Had Duo just come upon someone else’s in-game training mission? It was the most likely outcome, though he couldn’t understand why it would occur to Yukio to look into. He would definitely have to go through cache files to find that answer, which he didn’t have the time to do. Whatever damage was done to the mission line could be altered on an administrative level, but in the current point inside the game the only option left was to get away as quietly as possible, without tying himself into a plotline.

 

_Yeah, there are probably things I don’t understand at work here in the system_ , Duo told himself. He took the time to appreciate his instincts but attempted to match his step with his breathing, and absorb the knowledge that this was a virtual world. There was no ultimate danger here. His time as a rebel fighter occurred outside of this place, and he was safe....right?

 

Duo worked himself through a curly-q of alleyways that he knew like the back of his hand. Until now, he had heard the occasional jangle of pocket contents to signal that whoever followed was indeed still there. The sound had been absent for half a kilometer. Just to be safe, he ran for a left facing wall, used his foot to brace and spring off to land atop a fire safety balcony halfway up the first floor of the opposite building. He climbed the rest of the way up the stairs, confident now that he was okay. No attack came, and the resulting view gave him no sign of mystery-goon.

 

Regardless, he remained on the rooftop of what was Electric Works’ deployment warehouse. Long term memory automatically filled in the holes for Duo- this place was a few years old and had taken over the last company’s facilities as the result of some well timed investment choices. Their trucks spanned the rear yard, yellow and green logos emblazoned on the side of each utility vehicle. He stared at them for a moment, listening in the silence. When a shift change bell clanged in the distance, he swiped for the menu to check what time it was. Eleven p.m. exactly. It would be time to meet with Yukio soon; somehow he had managed to take up an hour winding through the satellite.

 

_Guess I got a mite of exercise in spite of myself._

 

The way back down the side of the building was a sheepish trip. His feet hit the ground with a soft thump, and started back for Stellatus Drive, which would eventually bring him to the ConnectHUB. He began to pick up the pace when the newstand came into view, a sign that he was almost there. Duo thought twice about telling Yukio what he’d been up to for the past hour, it sounded ridiculous just thinking abou-

 

Everything went black, followed by a spike of pain and stars. By the time Duo was fully aware of his actions, he had wrenched a pipe from the hands of his assailant. He swung once and missed, vision still clearing and a headache forming. The attacker was wearing a mask (how classic), and had shoulder length hair. It was impossible to tell further details about who it was, but they were similar in size to Duo and had a stocky build. He raised the pipe again in a feint and dodged the right hook that was aimed at his jaw in response. Spinning, he rammed his left elbow into the solar plexus of the attacker and was satisfied to hear the sharp exhale of wind. The attacker staggered back, gave Duo an unreadable look and ran for it. Instead of heading towards the truck yard or the main road, they ducked down the last alley before Stellatus.

 

Close behind, Duo ignored the ping of the system messenger. He was intent on pursuit. With a slightly clearer head and adrenaline singing through his veins, Duo took larger steps in an attempt to close the gap between them. One more ping through the system, and he wheeled down a second alley.

 

The sight he stumbled upon made little sense at all. A bright, digitally enhanced console was hovering in front of a second person while they typed away.

 

“Duo!”

 

The L2 native’s attention split for the briefest second, glancing back at Quatre who was walking unhurriedly towards him. By the time he looked back, he had a moment to absorb the image of both attacker and accomplice disappearing into thin air. The console remained, the imagery surrounding it blurring into a marr of nothingness. Wherever they had gone, it was into that pit.

 

“Duo, I replied to your message and tried to reach you when I entered the server but-”

 

“Come on!”

“What-” Quatre was tugged forward, adapting to a run as Duo hauled them towards the darkness before them. Instead of slowing at the console, which Quatre realized too late was fading away, both went straight into the darkness.

 

All that remained was the fading image of the console and a ripple in the alley. They were gone.

 

. . .   

 

_Thump, thump._

 

Duo grunted underneath the weight of his friend, who had landed on top of him in this… whatever this was. He made an effort to sit up and displaced Quatre, who shook his head vigorously. _Where on Earth…? Is that where this even is?_ They stood up slowly, exchanging a look. Quatre peered about them and spotted another console. He approached it, all of the explanations he had prepared for their situation quickly falling away. Duo did the same, and typed in the root access code for G.H.O.S.T.

 

A small screen flashed before them, warning symbol easy enough to determine. A Japanese based text scrolled across, and then the console was gone.   


“Hey wait! …. well, shit.” His voice punctuated the silence between them. Duo started, raising his right hand and swiping left. Nothing. Swipe right. Also no response. He slowly turned to face Quatre.

 

“Now probably isn’t the time to tell you we’re stuck, but here we are.”  


“Thank you for that enlightening insight.” The sarcasm in Winner’s tone matched how he felt, arms crossing over his chest. Duo gave a depreciating laugh, a hand reaching to cup the back of his neck as he looked at Winner Corps’ CEO.

 

“But… just where is here, exactly?”

 

“I don’t know,” Duo replied honestly. “I figured I’d stumbled onto another recruit’s mission line, so this wasn’t exactly on the list of places-to-vacation. The most I can say is it might be related to what I was messagin you about before.”

 

Gunshots rang out, causing them both to drop flat to the sandy ground beneath them.

Duo gave the area a more critical assessment. Where they were positioned had no immediate coverage. A bridge was in the distance, but the entire area looked abandoned and devoid of life. Only a few birds could be seen flying towards the bridge, meaning that the shots had potentially come from behind them. Were they still being pursued, even here? He didn’t think that the two he had seen in the alley back on the interspace satellite had seen them follow, and they had been gone when the pilots had landed. An orange sky went for as far as the eye could see. Along the sides of the bridge were some bushes, further foliage looking to be on the other side. It was their best shot, without any foreknowledge of the terrain.

 

Quatre seemed to think the same thing, catching his eye and nodding. First at a crawl, then standing when no further shots rang out, the two picked up a jog. Keeping watch on their peripherals, they made steady progress. There were no civilians, no road signs, no tracks in the ground from vehicles or animals.

 

“Is this still even a simulation?” Quatre wondered aloud, stifling a laugh at the sight of Duo flailing and flapping about next to him while they jogged. Duo had the good grace to look offended. It was small, but there was the chance that their commands had changed. Eventually one of the motions he made got results, and a streamlined version of the command window opened to his left. The colors and options were different, and the language here was also Japanese. This calmed Quatre only slightly. Whatever Duo had gotten them into, it was in Japan.

 

Or it should have been, but the region around them was unlike anything he’d ever seen there.

 

“Duo wait.” A slender hand reached out to restrain the braided former pilot when they approached the bridge. The slope of it went up a ways before the bridge began. In other words, it was easy to spot them, should they decide to cross. Better for them to take their chances with the brush and undergrowth beneath. Duo followed Quatre’s line of sight and didn’t hesitate to step down into the scrappy bits of foliage. He winced, making an effort to slow his movements. Quatre did the same. Who knows what was beneath them. Being able to move with relative silence allowed the blond to think about the information they had been provided. _It’s still a game, at its core, whatever we are in. Chances are, the debugging system either doesn’t work or hasn’t discovered us._ There wasn’t any way to tell how much time that would garner them without looking at the admin logs, and their previous method hadn’t worked. The system they were in isn't compatible with G.H.O.S.T., furthermore. _But it had been connected, somehow._

 

Overgrown bushes gave way to a plateau of smoothened dirt. There had been a river here once, but either time or lack of rain had forsaken it. Quatre was reminded of the sprawling images of Mars he had seen during the last Preventers seminar. When the base was complete, would they discover land similar to this?

 

Duo was toying with the end of his braid as he walked, a little more spring in his step. He hadn’t heard any more gunshots, nor had they seen a single person during their exploration of the world. The shots had just been a coincidence. While it hardly meant relaxing, Duo attempted to pinpoint the source of his excitement without avail. Raising his other hand, a single swipe down brought up the menu again. He went option by option, memorizing what was available to them in the database. That it even worked was a testament to his mystery assailant’s tech capabilities. Not only did it register them as players, but it had attempted to convert some of their stats and… none of their items. _Well that’s a bummer. Guess we’ll have to commandeer some._

 

“Gun Gere Online,” he read aloud, squinting briefly at the katakana. “Ah, Gale, not gere. That’s a good sign for us, assumin the stats are to be believed.”

 

Quatre mimicked Duo’s motion to bring up his own menu and groaned internally. He could edit academic publications in Arabic, but Japanese was something he’d never had time to get more than a passing amount of knowledge in. Duo appeared to know a little more than him, but they were both going to be S.O.L. for Kanji without accompanying furigana. What’s more was the entire lack of a tutorial or beginner’s guide.

 

Duo continued to brainstorm aloud. “I’m not exactly the encyclopedia on gaming, but I’ve never heard of this before. It’s possible that it is a new release, but there should be no way that the servers share data unless we’ve been hacked from the outside.”

 

“Also unlikely, given Heero’s dedication to security.”

 

“There’s not a whole lot of options otherwise. We didn’t build this into G.H.O.S.T., so who did?”

 

“I think the more appropriate question now is whether or not we can get access to their internal console. We haven’t seen the people who disappeared through the… level shift? Or is it Portal? Since then, yet they’re our best shot.” Quatre attempted to think back to the few seconds before they’d been thrown into Gun Gale Online. He couldn’t remember much. Being yanked along by Duo, the limited image of two retreating backs, a glowing green console.

 

“Good question. I got another one for ya though, what are we gonna do until we see them?” Duo’s attention was on the darkening horizon. A game that focused on guns, in a mixed but open landscape. Could they die? If they did would they be sent home? Or recycled into the debugging system? There was little fear of being killed over items, but they couldn’t guarantee the outcome of such an act. He made a mental note to experiment on the next player they came across. They would have to acquire items, but without money or mission lines that left nicking it. He’d had the thought earlier, but a question still nagged at him. Could they equip items they stole?

 

Quatre’s voice yanked him back to the current moment. “We need shelter. There’s some trees up ahead, we can scale one to check for buildings or better cover.” Failing that, they would have to make do with whatever they had at their disposal.

 

“I doubt it matters too much whether we move during the day cycle or night. If we want to catch someone and collect resources though, it would do us well to have the advantage of being unseen.” A feat, with the way their scenery had panned out so far. Duo chuckled, raising both hands to cup behind the base of his skull beneath the braid and staring up into the sky.

 

“Kinda like the old days, innit?”

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ch. 3: this was originally two chapters, but i decided to separate them. following chapter should be out soon.

**Author's Note:**

> ay-haaay chapter one. we all know by now how great i am at follow up chapters, but there is a decent amount of fodder to at least get this going. comment your opinions, welcome to the trash pit /o/
> 
> associated soundtrack: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwT2E_tsQIw


End file.
